They were genuinely good and loving as leaders for a while. They really truly had good intentions and did good things for Morrowind at first. They were pushed by the cruelty their people had been constantly forced to endure, and wanted to prevent that. Like what is said in canon [I think? I don't remember what I was referencing when I typed that], they didn’t like the distant and uninvolved guidance of the Daedra, and they would understand the problems and struggles of the people and be more available to help them. They truly were loving parents who cared deeply for their people, but in sort of a helicopter parent type way. The way that’s loving and feels good when the kid is little but becomes detrimental and toxic as they get older. That, paired with their own deteriorating powers, mental state, and increased surveillance state, makes them less loving and more controlling (and simultaneously distant) as time rattles on.